Jake Martin: The AK-47

Jake starts the story carrying an Army issue M4; however things tend to happen in these stories and he eventually ends up with a Century Arms C39 model AK-47. Jake’s likes and dislikes tend to be a bit of a mystery – consequently it seemed right to me that he carried the world’s version of an Everyman rifle. The AK-47 is without a doubt the undisputed winner in the Most Popular Rifle in the World contest.

The chief reasons for the rifle’s dominance (ease of us and reliability) are also the main factors that drew Jake to the weapon. He’s just not a gun guy. He doesn’t care how fancy or whizzbang his weapon is. He’s not a marksman and the chances are likely that he never will be. He just wants a weapon that he can count on to function reliably with zero jams or malfunctions, whether he’s run 1,000 or 10,000 rounds through it.

From the perspective of the author, the rifle does little to betray any of the characteristics of Jake’s inner personality – those aspects of himself that he struggles to keep private. This is intentional.